Rare whisky on offer

Rare bottles of whisky dating back over 50 years are set to go under the hammer in Edinburgh next month.

Three bottles of Black Bowmore 1964 are to be sold separately with estimates of £4000-£4500 per lot when they go before auction at Bonhams’ fine whisky sale on March 2.

Bottled in 1993, 1994 and 1995 respectively, they represent the three editions of 1964 whisky distilled by Morrison’s Bowmore Distillery in casks previously used to age Oloroso Sherry.

Also up for grabs is a bottle of The Glenfiddich 50 year old, which could reach bids of up to £15,000.

The whisky was bottled in 1991 from casks filled in 1937 and 1939 and is numbered 448 of an edition of a limited edition. It comes in its original fitted wooden presentation case and is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity provided by The Glenfiddich distillery.

Bonhams whisky specialist, Martin Green said: “Whisky collecting is very much an international pursuit and I would not be surprised to see bidding from the USA and countries in the Far East as well as closer to home.”

As usual, the sale also offers some rarely-seen bottles including The Glenrothes-Glenlivet 20 year-old, distilled in 1946 and bottled in 1966 by Hepburn & Ross Ltd, Glasgow. It is estimated at £1500-£1800.

The company was founded in 1920 by two former First World War soldiers with experience of the whisky trade, Charles Hepburn and Herbert Ross, and had a policy of employing almost exclusively demobilised servicemen. Although the firm passed out of the founders’ hands in 1959, its name persists and it is still remembered as the original producers of a blended whisky called Red Hackle after the decoration worn in the Tam O’Shanters of the Black Watch Regiment in place of a cap badge.